Financial institution customers often find it desirable or convenient to use ATMs for conducting financial transactions and/or taking advantage of other services offered by the financial institution. However, there are numerous privacy concerns associated with conducting transactions at an ATM. For example, often ATMs are located in crowded or high traffic areas, and are designed so that there is little or no physical barrier surrounding the machine. In such cases, when entering information into an ATM, often through the keypad or on a touchscreen, customers risk having their personal information, such as their Personal Identification Number (“PIN”), account numbers, account balance or other information compromised by this lack of privacy.
In addition, currently, ATMs typically require a financial card, such as a credit or debit card, to initiate a transaction. However, customers may, in certain situations, find themselves without their financial card. A customer who has, for example, forgotten his or her wallet at home may need to make a cash withdrawal, but would not be able to without a card associated with the customer's financial institution. Indeed, customers may encounter a variety of scenarios in which they need to make a transaction at an ATM but do not have access to their financial institution card. For example, the card may have been stolen, the customer may be traveling and not have immediate access to the card, or the card may be in the customer's possession but has become unusable or non-functional. In other instances, the customer may be waiting on a replacement card after having encountered one of these situations (or any other).
Perhaps due to the increased customer demands for privacy and efficiency, in recent years, there has been a dramatic rise in the use of mobile banking by customers. In fact, in many cases, customers often prefer to access certain financial institution services (such as, for instance, making deposits and withdrawals, or accessing an account balance) through a mobile device, such as a smartphone or personal digital assistant. In addition, whereas an ATM transaction typically requires waiting in line and providing a customer's financial card, conducting the same transaction on a mobile device only requires the device itself. The convenience of being able to perform transactions from the customer's mobile device has led customers to expect faster, more efficient transactions from their financial institutions. However, for many reasons, financial institutions may often wish to encourage the use of ATM transactions. For instance, these transactions might encourage users to enter the bank (where the ATM location is inside the bank), where the customer can then be approached by customer service representatives and offered a wider range of services than what may be available online.
Accordingly, a solution is needed that will further enhance customer security and efficiency at ATMs. The solution should be designed to serve customers who are without immediate access to their financial institution card, and also to also take advantage of the current customer demand to use a mobile device as part of these transactions.